Mutually Assured Destruction
by Leahelisabeth
Summary: AU tag to Taxi Driver. Sam runs into a familiar face in Purgatory and soon he has no other choice but to trust his enemy. Hurt!Sam. H/c bingo fill for spnlittlebro team, as well as one on my own card.


Alright, here is another oneshot. It is for the h/c bingo. It fulfills the "relying on an enemy/rival" square on the unofficial card at spnlittlebro and also the "drugged" square on my own card. I hope you enjoy!

~o()o~

"I don't get it; this is the place," Sam said, glancing around. "He should be here."

"Maybe he is just running late," Bobby said.

"I don't think so, Bobby. He was very specific. He wanted me at this place no later than..." He glanced at his watch. "2 minutes ago. I think something is wrong." Sam barely had time to look at Bobby helplessly before the silence of the purgatory clearing was interrupted by the flourishing of weapons and the menacing shapes of monsters.

Sam and Bobby barely had time to turn to face their attackers before they were upon them. The first few were easy. They were overwhelmed with bloodlust at the thought of fresh, human meat. It made them sloppy, easy to kill. In a matter of minutes, bodies littered the clearing, Sam wielding the purgatory blade like he was born to battle. Bobby too amassed quite a body count in a very short time.

The ranks around them began to thin and Sam began to think it was nearly over when a solid punch to his left shoulder blade nearly bowled him over. "Bobby, what the hell," Sam shouted in sudden pain. He glanced over his shoulder first to realize that Bobby's fight had taken him to the other side of the clearing and second to realize it was no fist that had hit him. It looked like a crossbow bolt. It wasn't long or particularly thick but it was already deadening Sam's arm.

An opportunistic vampire took that moment to leap on Sam, finally taking him to the ground. He screamed in agony as the impact with the ground forced the bolt to rip through his shoulder. Bobby shouted his name but Sam knew without looking that there was no time for him to fight his way back. The vampire's fangs were out and mere inches from Sam's neck and Sam knew that this is where he would die. He closed his eyes right and held his breath, waiting for a tearing bite that never came.

The weight was suddenly off him. The vampire flopped to the ground, headless. Sam tried to focus, to see his saviour but the pain was quickly taking him under. He lay, bloody, in the middle of the battlefield, and Sam Winchester knew no more.

~o()o~

Sam woke up underwater. Everything had that soft, swimmy feeling. Voices were muffled and the filtered sunlight glinted in shifting shadows against his closed eyelids. Sam loved to swim. He and Dean didn't go much of course. Swimming meant Dean in swimming trunks and Dean did not do swimming trunks. Sam giggled as he thought about Dean in shorts. Dean was probably sitting on the edge in jeans, flirting with some hot chick in a tiny bikini. Maybe Sam should drag him in. He deserved to know how weird this water was. Sam had been breathing and he wasn't drowning. If he could market this feeling, he would be rich.

"I may never go back to oxygen," he sighed loudly and giggled to himself.

"Wake up, ya idjit!" A gruff voice spoke from above him. Calloused hands patted his cheek firmly.

Sam want sure what had happened to his coordination but he was having a very difficult time moving his eyelids in sync. It didn't help that they really didn't want to be open at all. Finally, he managed to prop them open halfway and focus enough to recognize Bobby above him. "S'great, Bobby!" Sam grinned happily. "I LOVE being underwater! Can we stay here? I don't think Dean will mind so long as we find him a mermaid or six."

"The hell was on that arrow?" Bobby shouted to someone outside Sam's field of vision.

"Nothing he wants to keep in his system if he's planning on staying alive for much longer." A familiar voice came from the right. It was enough to clear 90% of the cobwebs from Sam's mind and force him to struggle into a sitting position. "Hello, Sammy," the man grinned as Sam turned to face him.

"It's Sam," he snarled.

"Oh right, only big brother gets to call you that. Well guess what, I don't see him anywhere," the man smirked, raising his homemade crossbow threateningly.

"What do you want, Walker? Because I would much rather you cut out the idle chit chat and just kill me already."

"I'm hurt," Gordon smirked. "What makes you think I want to kill you? If I did, you would already be dead. I had a clean shot. I hit your shoulder on purpose."

"Then get the hell away from him! You've done enough damage," Bobby shouted.

"No, not yet. I'd like to tell you a little story first. Once upon a time, there were two brothers, one, daddy's little girl, the other, an abomination from the pit of hell. Daddy's little girl got sent to the bad place where all the monsters go and there he entered into a mutually beneficial alliance with a fanged creature of the night. The little girl got someone to hold his little baby hand and the vampire got to return to the real world. Now, this vampire has been lurking in the shadows. He has heard the stories and so he is perhaps not quite so surprised when the abomination comes waltzing through next and the vampire thinks to himself that maybe the demonic son of a bitch he tried so hard to kill before his death might be of some use to him after all."

"What the hell makes you think I would ever do something to help you?" Sam shouted angrily.

"Well," Gordon continued smoothly. "You've probably noticed by now that your head isn't clearing quite the way it should, especially now that the adrenaline from seeing me is wearing off a little. You might also notice that you have a crossbow bolt stuck right through your shoulder but you're hardly feeling any pain. If you dig a little deeper, you'll notice that not all the dizziness is from blood loss and there is a headache growing stronger right between your eyes."

Sam's stomach lurched. "What did you do to me, Gordon?"

"I gave myself a little bit of leverage," he laughed. "The arrow was poisoned. I won't tell you what it is called because I can't take the chance that Mr Encyclopedia will know it. All you need to know is that the antidote doesn't grow here in purgatory and I won't tell you what it is unless you let me piggy back you out of here."

"You're forgetting one thing. Dean and I burned your body. You have nothing to go back to. I can carry you out but once I release you, you're going to come floating straight back here."

"That's where you're wrong. Because you burned my bones so soon after my death, my body followed me right here. I'm wearing it. My soul will vacate the body and then you can carry the empty husk out on your back. It will be so much easier on you. You won't have to go searching for my bones after you get out. I can get you to the antidote immediately after you get me out, which is good because you have less than 24 hours before the poison completely incapacitates you," Gordon smiled predatorily. "And before you make other excuses, like not knowing the location of the portal or the spell to transfer the soul, I have all of that. I am nothing if not prepared."

"And if I refuse; if I decide to just die here in Purgatory, what then? You've poisoned me already and I do not want to be responsible for releasing yet another monster on the world. Not to mention, I just plain do not trust you," Sam growled.

"Ah yes, little Sammy Winchester, the boy who cracked open hell and released the devil. Surprised I know about that? Word travels faster than you think down there. You won't have to worry about me. I'm not a monster, not really. I've learned to control myself, my hunger. If you take me back up there, I will use my strength and speed to destroy every evil creature that gets in my way. As for letting yourself die down here, what do you think that will do to Dean? Poor big brother, sent his brother to fight his battles and he never came back. You know what Dean does when you die. The guilt will destroy him again. And how many times do you think you can push your luck before death actually takes. No, you die down here and Dean will follow you," Gordon said cruelly. "You say you don't trust me; I don't trust you either. Why do you think I poisoned you? You ever hear of MAD. It stands for Mutually Assured Destruction. If you don't help me, you will die. Don't think that I like you more than I ever did, but I want out of this place and back up top slaying monsters far more than i want to see you dead. If I let you die, there is no ticket out of here. Humans don't come here, especially humans with the knowledge and skills to survive. If I don't go with you, I don't go. Not to mention your pretend father beside you would behead me faster than I can blink once your heart stops and that's a dead you don't come back from."

Sam looked at Gordon then looked helplessly at Bobby. "I guess I don't have a choice," he sighed and pushed himself slowly to his feet. "Which way?"

Sam was a little dizzy but he didn't have a hard time walking on his own at first, especially considering the crossbow bolt still in his shoulder grating against bone, but once they had been walking for two hours, he began to get tired. By two hours and forty five minutes he was bracing himself against every tree he passed, trying to gain the strength for just a few more steps. Bobby had been glancing back at him every few seconds for the last few minutes. Sam brushed away his helping hands, determined to make it out on his own two feet. Unfortunately, those two feet threatened to trip him up every chance they got. Five minutes later, Sam caught his toe in a root and face planted on the forest floor. Bobby turned him over carefully, wincing when he saw the jolt had reopened the wound in his shoulder and fresh trickles of blood were dripping over the swollen and bruised flesh.

"We need to stop; Sam won't make it much farther without a rest," Bobby barked at Gordon.

"It isn't safe here. We continue on. Get him up," Gordon spoke tersely.

"It's ok, Bobby. Doesn't hurt," Sam whispered. "I can keep going."

Bobby looked worried but knew better than to argue with a Winchester. It took a while, but finally Sam was on his feet again, swaying alarmingly but still standing. Bobby shoved his shoulder under Sam's right arm, offering himself as a crutch, before they continued on.

Sam was degenerating faster. The slight dizziness that had been an annoyance before was giving him that underwater feeling again. He began wishing the arrow in his shoulder would hurt because a little bit of pain might actually keep him more alert. He kept walking; every moment drew him farther into himself until all he could think about was putting one foot in front of the other. His brain hardly registered Bobby at his side, carrying him along, until that crutch was gone and he was falling. The landing knocked the breath out of him. He lay there, trying to draw air into lungs that were suddenly too small, and felt himself drifting off into sleep.

The screams of dying monsters and a rather large spray of blood landing on his face dragged him out of his stupor and he forced his eyes open in time to see a vampire, weapon raised and swinging down at him. Sam shouted, arms raised to protect himself from a blow that never fell. Another spray of blood splattered his clothing and Sam looked up to see a feral Gordon standing above him, chopping heads left and right. He struggled to push himself off the ground but his head felt far too heavy for any one person to lift. As he watched, Gordon decapitated the last vampire and stood, breathing heavily, looking around.

"Have a good rest?" Gordon asked. "Good, because we move out now. I told you it wasn't safe." He reached down and grabbed Sam's hand, pulling him to his feet quickly. Sam's knees buckled and he fell into Gordon, head landing on his shoulder. Gordon pushed him away in disgust. "Better come catch your boy, Bobby, before I decide this isn't worth it."

Bobby caught him, but only barely. "You going to make it, Sam?" he asked.

"Don't have 'nother choice," Sam slurred.

"You in a lot of pain?"

"Don't feel it. S'numb," Sam started moving forward.

Another hour and a half later, Sam collapsed again. Wordlessly, Gordon handed Bobby his blade and dragged Sam into a fireman's carry over his shoulder. He stalked away, barely seeming to feel the weight. "We're almost there," he called over his shoulder. "Try to keep up and hope we don't get any more distractions."

When they finally saw the crackling electric light of the portal that would take them home, Sam had been completely unconscious for about a half hour. Gordon dropped his burden at the base of a tree. Sam was too out of it to even notice. He just sprawled limply where he was dropped.

"Oh, great plan," Bobby said sarcastically. "Poison your ticket out and now he is too weak to carry himself, much less your stinking corpse."

"You wound me, Bobby," Gordon glared. "Just because the antidote is on the other side doesn't mean there aren't temporary measures I can take to ensure he is able to do his job." He reached into a pouch at his hip and pulled out a leather flask and a packet of dried leaves. He knelt down by Sam and reached for him.

"Whoa, wait," Bobby grabbed his arm. "What the hell are you giving him?"

"It won't kill him," Gordon pushed him away. "And he will definitely die if we just leave him. The poison is working faster than I anticipated on someone Sam's size. This will keep him going long enough to get him to the other side." He grabbed Sam's chin roughly, forcing his mouth open and crumbling the dry leaves into it. He poured water, splashing it across Sam's blood covered face. He clamped Sam's mouth shut and pinched his nose until he reflexively swallowed.

Bobby watched worriedly for any sign of change. It took a while. Sam looked very much dead and if it weren't for the almost imperceptible rise and fall of his chest, Bobby would have been mourning already. When the change came it was sudden and startling. Sam's eyes shot up and he sat up in a panic.

"Dean!" he shouted, fighting Bobby's hands. It took him a moment to remember where he was and then he collapsed with a groan against the tree trunk, his hand going to his wounded shoulder.

"Sorry, side effect of the new toxin in your blood. You're going to be awake but now you're also going to hurt," Gordon didn't actually look particularly sorry.

Sam sat, looking up at the tree above him. "When did purgatory get the funny lights? Can I keep one? They're pretty and, and I think they want to eat me," he giggled as Bobby looked down in horror.

"Another side effect," Gordon smiled widely. "He'll be focused enough to get the job done."

And he was. It took a little extra explaining and Bobby had to fight off Sam's grabby hands and try very hard to retain his gruff persona when Sam told him how much he loved him for the sixth time. But soon, both Sam's forearms were glowing and a vampire corpse was slung over his shoulder and he was making for the crack between dimensions.

~o()o~

Dean was trying very hard not to pace. Ajay was dead, stranding Sam in purgatory, and the only solution he could come up with was to send a monster in to teach him the spell to carry a soul between worlds and lead him to the way out. Unfortunately, Benny wasn't answering his phone. And Dean is alone in the middle of nowhere in Maine, hoping that maybe Sam's freaky brain will somehow figure out the way back to earth. It's hasn't even been a day and a half since Sam went in but even a minute overdo is too long when his baby brother is out of his sight.

He tried to sit down for a rest. He even managed to drink half a bottle of water and choke down a couple mouthfuls of a granola bar, but all too soon he was back on his feet, pacing again.

"Ok, you know Sammy can take care of himself. He has been fighting monsters for a good chunk of his life and he's huge. He probably has Bobby with him and they're just taking their time so they don't do anything stupid and get themselves killed. Unless he never made it to Bobby at all. Maybe Sam got lost. It's not like he has a guide. Maybe the portal has a moving entrance on this side. How do I even know Sam will come out here?" Dean mumbled to himself. "And now I'm talking to myself. That's just frigging great!"

Thankfully for Dean's sanity, the night was shattered by a bright light. Dean was charging toward it before it had time to fade. "SAMMY!"

A staggering figure soon came into view. At first, it looked much too big to be Sam but Dean soon saw it was his brother with a body slung over his shoulder. Sam's eyes were wide and glassy in the light of the flashlight and soon Dean could see that his baby brother was covered head to toe in blood.

"Dean, I brought you a mermaid!" Sam grinned and giggled. "I learned to breathe underwater. If we get you a tail too, you won't have to wear the shorts." He dropped the body on the ground. "See?"

Dean gasped as he saw a face that had haunted his nightmares for years after they had burned his body. "Sam, why do you have the body of Gordon Walker?" He asked as he reached his brother. He shined his light in his brothers eyes and was dismayed to see pupils so dilated that the color couldn't be seen at all.

"What?" Sam blinked at him, completely confused.

"That is Gordon Walker. Where did you get that?" Dean enunciated slowly and carefully.

"Oh him...um...I can't...oh, the arrow!" Sam grinned again. "Gordon shot me!"

"He what?" Dean asked dangerously.

"Right here," Sam moved his jacket to reveal the arrowhead poking through his skin. "He poisoned it and said I couldn't have the antidote unless I carried him out." He pulled out the puppy dog eyes. "I didn't want to give in, but I had to make it back to you." A big glistening tear formed in his eye and dripped down his cheek. "I just, I really love you, Dean."

Sam staggered and would have fallen on his butt if Dean hadn't grabbed him and slowly lowered him to the ground. "I gotta finish it. I can't get the antidote until he's back." Sam pulled his knife and drew a line across one of his glowing forearms. The blood dripped on Gordon's corpse and a few seconds later he was opening his eyes and grinning.

Dean grabbed the former hunter by the collar, hauled him up and slammed his back into the nearest tree. "You tell me right now what I have to do to heal Sammy or I will send you right back to purgatory," he snarled, spit flying in the vampire's face.

Gordon grinned at him. "You shouldn't get this close to a vampire unless you've got the machete in position." The tables turned in an instant, Gordon moving so fast he could hardly be seen. Dean's back was roughly slammed against the same tree and he was gasping for breath as Gordon gripped his throat tightly. "Oops, silly me. I guess that antidote was in purgatory after all and I forgot to bring it out with me. Oh well, the abomination will not be missed. Dean, I know how much you love him, how far you will go to keep him safe. I'll make sure you join him." Gordon's fangs descended and his teeth ripped into Dean's neck.

Dean screamed and fought but Gordon was strong and hungry and Dean wasn't prepared to fight a vampire.

He shouted again when the teeth were pulled away, tearing the skin further. Sam stood, dark silhouette against the sky, purgatory blade in hand; Gordon's headless corpse collapsed between them.

They looked at each other silently, hardly knowing what to do next. Sam's body betrayed them and took that choice away. He collapsed as abruptly as if his strings had been cut. Dean caught him this time too.

"Sammy? What do I do? There has to be some way to save you," Dean was frantic.

"I'm sorry, Dean. At least this way, I get to say goodbye. I love you," Sam said softly.

"Hey, you're not dead yet. We still have time," Dean cradled his brother's head in his arms.

Sam grinned again. "I got Bobby. He's here in my arm. I got him out of hell. Now he can join the pretty lights. But Bobby won't want to eat me. Don't worry."

Dean roughly rubbed at his face. "Lightweight," he said fondly, trying not to choke on the word.

"I think we should let him go," Sam found his knife again. "You'll have to do the trials again but at least Bobby will be in heaven."

Dean steadied Sam's hand as he made the cut that would release Bobby. When Sam later tried to remember what happened next, it was all a blur. Crowley was there, his normal supercilious self. There was a tree at his back and it didn't seem to like him much since it was trying to crush him. He thought maybe the cold angel lady was there but it was weird because he thought that she was helping them.

A line of dialogue was crystal clear. "I'll help you save your brother; I'm not the bad guy, Dean."

Then it's all a muddle again. There was the bitter taste of something leafy in his mouth and Dean forcing him to chew and chew and chew and swallow and then his shoulder hurt like burning and he was screaming and crying and Dean was holding his hand as he shook and quivered and wept and burned until the poison was gone and he opened his eyes and was himself again.

Dean had patched up his shoulder while he was out. It was sore and it would be awhile before his arm had full strength again but it would heal. He was weak and shaky from the poison but getting stronger by the minute, especially since Dean had been pouring water down his throat every few minutes.

Dean argued, of course, that Sam was too weak and they should call the whole thing off, but he couldn't deny that his brother was strong and could not be swayed from his course. And so it was that Dean stood by his brother as he pronounced three words. "CANAL OM DARR."


End file.
